Back in the day, long before digital photography and the advent of “kit lenses,” the unassuming 50 used to be the most popular lens. A 50 was most likely the lens you bought with your first camera, (it was my first lens) and although it’s not as cool as an ultra wide or a long telephoto, there’s something special about that normal 50mm focal length.

It’s called “normal” because the view angle of a full frame 50mm (35mm for APS-C sensors) closely matches the normal non-periferal view of the human eye. So, when you use a normal lens, you’re essentially capturing what you see with regards to focal length and depth of field.

Up close, it’s quite shallow, just like your eyes, but when you move out to any distance, depth of field pretty much drops to infinity. It’s never a factor when you get past about 20-30 feet.

I’ve been using the Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 WR lens for nearly two years now, and my excitement for this awesome little lens has not faded one bit. It pretty much goes everywhere with me.

I love the small, sexy form factor, the fast f/2 aperture, and the fact that it’s weather sealed. I love how it looks so classic (there’s that word again…) on my X-T2, but most importably, I love the images I make with it.

I use my 35 f/2 for just about everything – landscapes, travel, details, people, aerials, and even some action and sports. I find it to be an incredibly versatile lens, and of all the Fuji lenses I own, this one is in my bag more often than any other.

Here’s a selection of images I’ve made during the past few months with my 35 f/2. Hopefully this will give you an idea of just how capable this awesome little lens is. If you’re in the market for a do-anyting lens, or if you’re looking for a small prime for a “walk around” or travel lens, or if you simply want a great little piece of glass to ramp up your photographic inspiration, I cannot recommend this lens enough to all Fuji users.

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@Danbaileyphoto @FujifilmX_US Couldn't agree more! This has been my favorite lens pretty much ever since I first attached it to my XT1!

Kyle Wurtz

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Back when I first started shooting full time with the Fujifilm X Series cameras, the XF 55-200mm was my go-to telephoto lens. At the time, it was Fuji’s longest focal length lens. They hadn’t come out with the high performance 50-140mm f/2.8 yet, so for long lens work, this was our only choice.

With a maximum aperture of f/3.5-4.8, the 55-200 ins’t an exceptionally fast lens, nor does it have the fastest AF motors. However, it has four things going for it:

It has a nice long reach. (300mm view angle equivalent compared to full frame focal length.)

It’s sharp as hell. (That Fuji glass, you know!)

It has excellent OIS lens stabilization.

It’s a nice size and weight for travel.

When I first got the X-T1 in February, 2014 and took it to Iceland for a week, the 55-200 went with me. I’ve always loved the photos I shot with it over there, and I remember being very impressed with how well it performed. I shot a bunch of photos of this frozen waterfall below, handheld at speeds between 1/25-1/60 sec., zoomed all the way out to 300mm, and they were all dead sharp. That’s how good Fuji’s OIS is.

Also, while the AF isn’t as fast as some of the newer Fuji lenses, the 55-200 is no slouch. Over the years, I’ve used it to capture a wide range of action subjects, from sports to wildlife. On all the new Fujis, which have faster image processors, the AF performance is even faster than it was on the X-T1.

As I look back, quite a number of my favorite X Series photos from around 2013-2015 were shot with the 55-2200. In fact, with a few of them, I hadn’t remembered which lens I’d used until I looked at the metadata in my image catalog. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.

As often as I used the 55-200, though, as soon as Fuji released their XF50-140, which is a full-on professional grade, fixed f/2.8 workhorse telephoto zoom, my 55-200 went back onto the camera shelf, where it sat unused for over three years.

Lured by faster glass, faster autofocus and a much beefier lens barrel, the 50-140 has gotten all the attention for a long time. Or at least most of it.

Sure, there have been plenty of times when I’ve left the 50-140 behind. After all, it’s a pretty big lens. I don’t often take it into the backcountry, and I rarely travel with it. That’s where the 90mm comes in. The 90 is so freaking sharp and it’s f/2, so it’s earned a special place in my heart.

However, a few weeks ago, I decided to pull the lonely 55-200 back off the shelf and give it some much-needed love. Using your least-used lens is actually a great way to shake up your creativity, so I figured why not? Let’s see what this thing can do.

And guess what? I suddenly remembered that the XF 55-200 is actually a great lens! I’ve been having lot so fun shooting landscapes with it during the past month and I’ve found that nothing has changed. It has a nice long reach, it’s still razor sharp, it has excellent stabilization, and it’s so much more enjoyable to carry than the 50-140. It actually fits in my small hiking photo pack with no complications!

Lens choice is all about tradeoffs and it always comes down to a compromise between speed, weight, performance, and price. If you don’t want to carry a big heavy lens, and you don’t regularly shoot fast action, the 55-200 is an excellent telephoto for general photography, landscapes and travel.

It will still give you excellent image quality and color reproduction, and the extended focal length range will come in handy for a wide range of subject matter. For many subjects, you don’t need to worry about the slower aperture. Just crank the ISO dial up a few clicks or hold still and take advantage of the highly capable stabilization.

If you actually look at the lens design, the 55-200 is almost identical to the XF100-400, and that one is incredible sharp. Where do you think the Fuji engineers got the template for the bigger one? That’s right. They obviously did a lot right with the 55-200, which opened up the door to what is currently Fuji’s longest lens.

So, after 3 years of neglect, I’ve fallen back in love with the XF55-200mm. The romance has been rekindled. All the good things about this lens have earned it a regular place in my bag again and I’ve been impressed with the quality of the imagery I’m getting with it.

I’m usually a 3-lens guy, with an occasionally 4th, and these days, I’m often heading out with the wide angle 14mm, the sweet little 35mm f/2 for the middle range, and the newly 55-200 for the long end. If you’re looking for a versatile telephoto lens with a nice long range that’s easy to carry and that doesn’t have an enormous price tag, then look no further.

Give it a try and you may find yourself falling in love with the 55-200 too.

A fast telephoto zoom is an essential piece of gear in any serious photographer’s camera bag. A lens like this opens up your shooting possibilities in a big way, especially when it comes to capturing fast moving subjects or photograing in low light conditions.

If you like to shoot action, adventure, wildlife, nature, outdoor portraits, or if you just love the creative compression a longer lens give you in your compositions, then a fast telephoto zoom is highly useful, and in my book, it’s well worth the investment.

Problem is, they’re not cheap, and they’re not very light. Especially the f/2.8 versions. That’s where the f/4 versions come in- they offer great performance and reduced weight at a great price, and with the VR image stabilization, that extra stop hardly makes a difference.

Extremely Powerful Focal Length

This lens will work with any Nikon body. With a full frame camera, you’ve got the standard 70-200mm viewpoint. Use it on a Nikon DX body and you’ve got the equivalent of a 105-300mm f/4 lens.

Either way, with this lens, you’ll get a wonderful level of bokeh and compression that will make your subjects stand out from the background and give them a high level of prominence in the frame.

At the short end of the zoom range, you’ve got a highly capable portrait-style focal length that works great for shooting people outside and capturing details in nature, or whatever type of scene you’re working.

At the long end, you’re able to zoom in and bring those distant subjects up close and isolate them against a nice, blurry background. This kind of technique is highly effective for creating simple, powerful imagery that tells at story without cluttering the frame.

Lens Construction and Quality

I’ve used Tokina lenses in the past and I’ve always found them to be great glass. I had an old 17mm AT-X back in the 90s and early 2000s, and it saw an awful lot of abuse over the years. It was one of my most-used lenses and I shot many of my favorite (and most published images) with it.

I even had a photo used by Nikon one time that was shot with my old Tokina 17mm. (Shhhhhh… that was back in the era of slide film before the days of EXIF info and metadata.) I never told them.

The Tokina AT-X 70-200mm f/4 PRO is built with 19 elements in 14 groups, and it features three Super-Low dispersion elements, which minimize chromatic aberration and improve clarity and contrast throughout the entire focal length.

The VCM (Vibration Correction Module) allows up to three stops of image stabilization and helps negate any limitations you might find from losing that one stop of light in the aperture.

The autofocus is driven by an ultrasonic motor that operates an internal focusing mechanism, so the lens doesn’t change size as you change your point of focus or zoom to a different focal length.

Overall

For price, quality and weight, the Tokina AT-X 70-200mm f/4 PRO is an excellent lens that gets high marks from other people who’ve used it. If you don’t want to shell out over $2,000 for a f/2.8 Nikon telephoto zoom, and even $1399 is a little too far out of your budget, then I’d highly recommend checking out this option.

Overall, it will perform better and greatly expand the kinds of subject matter you can capture than most kit lenses and it will save you save you $500 over the Nikon version. ($600 savings right now with the current rebate.)

The only downside I see is that it doesn’t come with a tripod collar. It’s extra, but with the stabilization, it’s quite easy to hand hold this lens. (I rarely use the tripod collar on my Fuji 50-140 2.8 zoom lens, in fact most of the time, the collar just sits in the drawer.) So, I don’t see this as any kind of deal breaker, unless you plan to use it on the tripod a lot.

Support this site. If you’re in the market for new gear, consider purchasing through these links. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, and it’s an easy way for you to show your support for the time I take writing these articles and reviews. Thanks ! 🙂 -Dan

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